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Damascus Dealings

Not wanting to be left behind, Syria's Assad says
he's eager for Mideast peace — but on his own
terms.

DOUGLAS DAVIS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

W

ashington's mediation
efforts in Middle East
peacemaking are ex-
pected to bear fruit this
month, with senior diplomatic
sources predicting dramatic de-
velopments on the most difficult
track of all: Syria.
According to the sources, as
well as media observers in Israel,
the Arab world and Europe, the
breakthrough with Israel's most
implacable enemy will come
when Secretary of State Warren
Christopher visits the region lat-
er this month.
One senior diplomatic source
said Israel and Syria had ac-
cepted the principle of total with-
drawal from the Golan for total
peace, including full diplomatic
and trade relations, as well as co-
operation on cross-border
tourism.
It is understood that Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
has scaled down his demand
for a phased withdrawal over
five years and has agreed
instead to a complete Golan with-
drawal within two years, coin-
ciding with the implementation
of all the components of full
peace.
Mr. Rabin also is said to have
privately compromised on at least
one key demand by Syrian Pres-
ident Hafez Assad: That Israel
disclose the size of its nuclear ar-
senal and abandon its nuclear
weapons.
Mr. Rabin initially countered
that even after a peace pact with
Syria, Israel still would face
threats from Iran and Iraq. How-
ever, he is reported to have sat-
isfied Mr. Assad with a vague but
symbolic offer to "take the bomb
from the shelter to the lobby," a
phrase that is understood to
mean Israel might be prepared
to reveal the strength of its arse-
nal and place limitations on its
use.
According to the sources, Mr.
Assad is being propelled toward
serious negotiations by an urgent
desire not to be left behind by
progress on the Jordanian and
Palestinian tracks.
He is said to be concerned
about persistent reports that, in
a bid to shake off the post-Gulf
War United Nations sanctions,
Iraq has put out peace feelers to
Israel and he is anxious not to be
outflanked by his traditional
Ba'athist Party rivals in Bagh-
dad.
With the loss of Soviet support,
Mr. Assad also is increasingly ea-

ger to have Syria's name removed
from the State Department list
of countries that sponsor terror-
ism, thereby opening the way to
aid and trade with the West.
According to Israeli commen-
tator Matti Basok, writing in the
Hebrew daily Davar, Mr. Rabin
raised the question of Israeli-Syr-
ian negotiations at a Cabinet
meeting late last month. This
caused ministers to conclude that
"something is moving between
Jerusalem and Damascus."
Recent opinion polls have
shown that opposition to hand-
ing back any part of the Golan
Heights to Syria is more broad-
based than opposition to West
Bank concessions. Even in the
context of a peace agreement, Is-
raelis have deep-rooted security
concerns.
The Golan would bring Tel
Aviv, Israel's major population
center, within artillery range of
Syrian guns. Moreover, Syria has

Hafez Assad is
determined that he
will be perceived
throughout the Arab
world as the real
author of the peace
accords.

a highly developed appreciation
of the Golan's strategic advan-
tage, having already used it three
times as a platform for military
attacks on Israel.
If Mr. Rabin has concluded
that peace is possible only in the
context of an Israeli pull-out from
the Golan, he appears to have
tied his hands by promising to
give the Israeli public a final say
on any deal with Syria via a ref-
erendum. He will have a daunt-
ing task convincing Israelis that
Mr. Assad really means peace.
Just as the late President An-
war Sadat instilled confidence in
Israelis when he made his his-
toric 1977 visit to Jerusalem, a
journey that proved to be an es-
sential precursor to the Israeli-
Egyptian peace treaty two years
later, Mr. Assad must show that
he understands Israeli security
concerns, that he is sincere, that
he can be trusted.
So far, he has been a reluctant

